


Second Time Around

by wimblydonner



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Character Death Fix, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Fpreg, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:16:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wimblydonner/pseuds/wimblydonner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first, Tifa doesn't question why Aerith has come back into her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Time Around

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Dreamwidth community Are You Game?; prompt: "Final Fantasy VII, Aerith/Tifa: f!preg - Carrying on the Cetra line"

Tifa doesn't ask why Aerith comes back to her one night. She's too lonely and too exhausted cleaning up the bar by herself to ask questions.

"We're closed!" she calls, mop in hand, when the knock comes on the door.

But the knocking continues. "Teef, it's me."

When she first opens the door, she thinks Aerith must have had a sister they never knew about, someone who looks just like her. But then Aerith says, "It's so good to see you again," her calm voice only quavering a little more then before, and Tifa, even though she doesn't understand, _knows_.

They fall quickly into an embrace. Tifa is overjoyed; it's been so long since something has gone _better_ than she expected. The bar certainly hasn't been doing badly by any means, but keeping it, and herself, above water has taken practically every moment of every day. She'd had few plans for the future except hoping a miracle occurs. And today it seems to have, when one of her dearest friends has come back to her despite everything.

They sleep together that night. They'd never been together before, but Aerith looks like she's been to hell and back--maybe she has--and Tifa has been in dire need of a new source of hope in her life. And so neither of them makes any effort to stop what transpires when Tifa leads them upstairs to her apartment over the bar, and Aerith starts undressing, and Tifa slides to one side of the bed to make room, and Aerith kisses her as soon as she's under the covers.

Tifa doesn't ask about the enormous scar running across Aerith's chest, right where she had been stabbed, and Aerith doesn't say anything. Tifa thinks she's beautiful anyway.

They spend hours that night absorbed in each other's bodies, Aerith leading and Tifa following. It feels wonderful and pleasurable, as good as any sex Tifa has had, but what really motivates Tifa is the scared, damaged look that returns to Aerith's eyes whenever they're not immediately touching each other. She pulls Aerith's body tight against her own and still doesn't ask questions.

*** * ***

Tifa falls asleep thinking that this might be her salvation, that Aerith--however she cheated death, whatever she's doing here--might be the one to rescue her from her life of mixing drinks and scrubbing barstools night after night.

But when she wakes to see Aerith already getting dressed and making ready to leave, she realizes she's let her fantasies get ahead of reality again. "You're leaving?" she asks from beneath the covers, hoping the words might reel Aerith back under them.

"I have to go see my mom, silly," Aerith says as she laces up her boots and collects her purse. "Talk to you later?"

And so that's that. Tifa rolls out of bed and back into the real world, which means finishing the floors she left unmopped the night before.

She goes to the gym afterwards and thinks about Aerith the whole time--how she could possibly be alive, the slightly frightened look in her eyes, her skin pressed against Tifa's.

Even after her workout, she's still full of nervous energy, and when she gets back to her apartment above the bar, she does something she's hardly ever inclined to do: she draws the curtains, climbs into bed, and spends the next hour touching herself while reliving the past night in her head. It feels wonderful and necessary until it's over, and then she just feels ashamed -- not for jilling off but for fantasizing so explicitly about a friend of hers who never asked to be part of it.

But it's while she's lying there in bed, staring at the ceiling, that she starts to think about the fact that Aerith regarded _her_ as important enough to see even before her own mother.

Maybe there's something to these fantasies after all.

Tifa's kept Elmyra's number to check in on her periodically; she can't imagine how difficult it must be for her, losing first her husband and then her only daughter.

Now, in the midst of happy news, she nervously dials the number, knowing the next phone call might decide the whole direction of her life from this point.

It's Aerith, in fact, who answers.

"Hi. Aerith." Tifa realizes she's woefully unprepared for this. "Listen, I've never been the one to ask somebody out before, but..."

*** * ***

Tifa thinks it's she who lucked out. Aerith is sweet and kind, adventurous and open enough to push Tifa to experience so much more of life than her duties at the bar, but sympathetic and gentle enough to back off when Tifa reaches her boundaries.

She's surprised, then, whenever Aerith seems giddy and starstruck over _her_. And it's not just the _special_ look Aerith gives her when she gazes at Tifa lifting weights and practicing her kicks. She does a simple inventory of the bar, figuring out what she needs to order and how much it will cost, and Aerith acts she's witnessing magic.

"Look at my girlfriend, the genius businesswoman," she purrs.

Tifa appreciates the compliment, but she feels like honesty requires her to point out it's really nothing special. "I _have_ to do this," she protests. "It's how we stay in business."

" _I_ couldn't do it." Aerith lays her head down on Tifa's shoulder and quietly watches her work.

Tifa's not one to see herself as special, but she thinks of all the failed businesses in the world and all the work she puts into running 7th Heaven, and she thinks that maybe she hasn't been giving herself enough credit. Maybe Aerith is seeing something she couldn't.

She wraps her hands around one of Aerith's and whispers, for the first time, "I love you."

*** * ***

Even after they've been dating for several months, Tifa still doesn't dare ask how Aerith has seemingly returned from the dead. She's afraid to know. Is she just a ghost? What if she's only been sent back to life for a short time and she's soon going to disappear from Tifa's life again? She couldn't take losing her again after what they've had together now; this is the happiest, healthiest relationship she's ever been in.

But it continues to gnaw at her, and the longer they're together, the more she fears what she'll lose if Aerith ups and vanishes one day. She can't take it on faith forever.

"Aerith," she says as she's driving them to the restaurant for their six-month anniversary. "I need to ask you something."

"Mm-hmm?"

"Why are you here?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Aerith wince a little. But then she smiles. "I walked down the stairs and got in your car, silly."

It's not the answer Tifa wants to hear. She pulls the car over with a start. It might be the anger speaking, but for the first time it seems a lesser sin to rock the boat than to let this go on without explanation. "Aerith," she says, "this isn't fair. I let you into my house without asking what's going on, I let you into my _bed_ without asking what's going on; you can't keep me in the dark forever if we're going to have any kind of life together." She's only making herself angrier, but she keeps going, pounding the steering wheel. "People don't just come back from the dead, Aerith, you can't act like this is nothing!"

Aerith is quiet for a while before she finally speaks in a quiet, sad voice that gives Tifa a certain sick reassurance that at least she matters enough to Aerith to be able to upset her. "I don't want to talk about it here," she says. "Can we at least go inside and sit down?"

Tifa's OK with that, but she spends the rest of the ride imagining terrible scenarios: Someone else had to die so that Aerith could live. Aerith isn't Aerith, but some kind of monster or spirit possessing her body. Aerith had become immortal and would remain here unchanged while Tifa turned old and gray.

"I was sent back," Aerith finally tells her at the restaurant, "because I couldn't be the last of my line. I have to raise my successor."

That ... didn't so bad. But she doesn't really understand. "Successor?"

"I came back so that I could have children. I can't return to the Planet when I'm the last Cetra alive."

"Children." Tifa stares into her wine glass. For the moment, it seems like the only real, stable thing as the rest of the world floats by her. She looks up. "Then you're dating the wrong person."

Aerith cocks her head. "Really? Are you sure you don't want children?" She leans over the table and whispers, "because if you're worried about the _biology_ , the Cetra have ways of making that happen."

Tifa can't imagine how that works. "Really?"

Aerith laughs gently. "Really," she says. "There are too few Cetra for us not to have other ways of carrying on our lineage. There are plenty of women in our history who've had children together."

Tifa's intrigued, but she figures the restaurant isn't the best place to be asking about the birds and the bees. Besides, that's not the real issue here. "I'd like to have children someday," she says carefully.

"Me too."

She tries to think of what she hasn't asked yet. "What happens if you do have a baby? Are you going to vanish after that?"

"Of course not," Aerith says, "The children need their mother, don't they?" She winked. "Or mothers."

Of all the things it could have been, this turned out to be far from the most alarming. Aerith isn't going anywhere, no one else is being hurt, and if things keep going well for them, she could imagine them raising kids one day. "You could have told me earlier."

"I _know_." But Aerith had always been reluctant to answer the question for the same reason Tifa was to ask it. "It's just ... I was happy with you. I didn't want to freak you out Talking about children? Right after we started dating?"

Tifa's still not in the most charitable of moods, but she knows she'll get over it. And when their car pulls up back home, Aerith places her hand over Tifa's. "Tifa," she says, "thanks for sticking up for yourself."

She's not quite sure what to say.

"You were right," Aerith continues. "It wasn't fair to leave you in the dark. And I do want a life together."

That's their cue to kiss and make up. It's been a difficult night, but Tifa feels like they made it through, like they've achieved something important in their relationship, and she's perfectly happy to fold her arms around Aerith and receive Aerith's lips teasing against hers.

They've fought incredibly hard to keep their hands off each other; neither of them wants to rush this and screw things up. But now Aerith is crawling out of the passenger seat and onto Tifa, and Tifa's pushing the seatbelt out of the way, and both their hands are moving into decidedly non-chaste places. "I think we've earned this," Aerith growls in Tifa's ear, "don't you?"

"Yes," says Tifa, already starting to unbutton Aerith's dress.

*** * ***

They're both a little on edge for a few days after their conversation, but soon they're back to normal. Aerith is teaching Tifa about gardening, and Tifa is showing her how she runs the business, and they're starting to think that about opening a florist's where Aerith can sell her flowers without having to travel the length of the city.

She's happy to be with Aerith not just in the big moments, the grand romantic dates and the vacations together, but in the quiet, ordinary days, when they're sleeping in together or just going shopping.

Tifa comes back from loading their shopping cart up with new glassware. She finds Aerith standing in the jewelry section, holding up a necklace as if to imagine herself wearing it. "That's pretty," Tifa says, "you should get it."

Aerith quickly puts the necklace down and shoves it away, as if to separate herself from ever having considered it. "Oh, no, I was just window-shopping."

"It would look good on you."

Aerith looks pained and whispers, "Teef, it's 500 gil."

Tifa shrugs. "C'mon. We can afford it."

Aerith is just staring at the necklace with a funny look in her eyes. Tifa understands that shrugging off the price of _anything_ is a previously unimaginable experience for her and she's probably not sure what to make of it. Aerith never had money. Aerith spent every day pounding the pavement to sell flowers and then scrimped and saved every gil so that she and her mom could eat. Aerith wore her boots until there were holes in them and then kept wearing them anyway, because any spare money would have to go the bills they were behind on.

Tifa doesn't know what it's like to be that poor, but she knows one thing. "You deserve to be happy too, Aerith."

When Aerith doesn't even make it back to the car before she has to stifle a sob, Tifa knows it's not really about the necklace. It's about the miraculous lifting of a long-held burden, about having possibilities for the future you thought you would never have. And for the first time, Tifa thinks she might have changed Aerith's life as much as Aerith has changed hers.

Later she comes back by herself to buy a ring.

*** * ***

Tifa's slightly jealous, even though she knows she shouldn't be, of how close Aerith is with her mother; her own mother passed away when she was little. But she's glad they have a relative nearby, especially for those holiday weekends. Tseng comes by sometimes too, as he has for so many years, and when it's the four of them siting around the dinner table, it almost starts to feel like a family.

Apparently Tifa isn't the only one thinking this. "It's so nice of Tseng to keep coming by," Elmyra says after he leaves one evening, as she goes to put the dishes in the sink. It's a slightly strained, wistful voice that immediately reminds Tifa of how she spoke of Aerith in those first few nervous days when she had so many wishes and so few resolutions.

" _Mom_!" Aerith says from the table. "Quit beating around the bush and go out with him already. You can't wait forever."

Tifa finds it charming to see Aerith and her mother bicker. After all the tragedy both of them have faced, it's sweet, even _adorable_ to hear them arguing over everyday things like none of it ever happened.

"Oh, don't be silly." Elmyra turns on the dishwater and gets back to work. It's been a long time since she could think of her own desires and dreams. First she had been holding down the homefront while hoping for her husband to return from the war. Then her duty was to Aerith; Elmyra had to put her daughter's needs first so that there was a chance that at least one of the might escape to a better life. And after Aerith was gone came the grief, when Elmyra knew she had to move forward with her life but couldn't see a way out of the past.

Now it's Aerith's turn to repeat what Tifa had told her. "Mom," she says, "you deserve to be happy." She slaps a palm resolutely on the table. "If you're going to act like you're 16, I'll do it for you." She hasn't heard Tseng's car pull away yet, so she jumps up and races out the door after him. Elmyra is left is left shaking her head, and Tifa immediately realizes they're alone.

Tifa's been trying to get Elmyra alone the whole evening. Now she finally has, and even though it's certainly not the best time, she doesn't know when another opportunity is coming.

"Ms. Gainsborough," she makes the words tumble out of her mouth before she has time to second-guess herself, "I want to marry your daughter."

There's a period of silence that gives Tifa enough time to start wondering if she shouldn't have brought this up. "Oh, Tifa," Elmyra says eventually, "that's wonderful."

The silence was long enough that Tifa wonders if Elmyra really means it.

Elmyra realizes that she might have the wrong impression, and she puts an arm around Tifa. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just don't know how to react; this has all been such a surprise to me." After a moment's thought, she continues, "To have Aerith back has made me happier than anything." She looks up at Tifa. "And I think you make _Aerith_ happier than anything."

Tifa looks a little embarrassed, but she's privately happy to hear it. "Well," she says, "I try."

"So, yes, Tifa, of course you should marry her." Elmyra's as awkward and unprepared as Tifa, and that reassures Tifa, makes her feel like her inability to completely hide her feelings isn't as great a flaw as she thinks. "You didn't need my permission, but you certainly have my blessing."

Then, to show she wasn't completely petrified about Tifa, Elmyra gives her a familial jab in the side. "Besides. I'm still hoping for grandchildren someday."

*** * ***

"Someday" turns out not be too longer after their honeymoon. The bar is doing well, well enough that Tifa can afford to hire some extra help and is even thinking about a second location. Now, they decide, is as good a time as any to start a family.

"You're sure this is going to work?" Tifa asks as they're headed for bed.

Aerith has been wearing a special Materia for a while now which, she promises, will soon result in Tifa bearing their child. "I wouldn't have been sent back if it wouldn't." She wiggles her fingers at Tifa and teases, "Better watch out. Might knock you up any day now."

Tifa thinks back to that night at the bar when Aerith first came back into her life. She was elated but so full of confusion, afraid that this new chapter in her life couldn't possibly go as well as she might dream. But it had. They'd come a long way: their first few nervous dates, the pain of sussing out Aerith's story, finding Aerith a place in Tifa's business, getting married in Aerith's church. The Planet might have made Aerith breathe again, but it was the two of them that had built a life.

But Tifa hesitates when she sees Aerith's eyes fixed silently on her from under the covers. "There isn't another catch, is there?"

"I was just looking at your butt, hon." Aerith takes her wife's hand and pulls her closer to the bed, where she leans up and kisses her. "C'mon. Let's make some babies."


End file.
